Effects of ginsenoside Rgl on the proliferation of neural stem cells in rats with focal cerebral ischemia / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the influence of ginsenoside Rgl on the proliferation of neural stem cells in adult rats with fo- cal cerebral ischemia,and to explore the possible mechanism of ginsenoside Rg1 in brain protection and anti-aging action.Methods The animal model of left middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO)was reproduced in adult male Wistar rats.The thymidine analog bromode- oxyuridine(BrdU)was administered intraperitoneally(50mg/kg,Sigma,USA)every four hours for four times before executing the ani- mals to label the proliferating cells.By the employment of immunohistochemical single staining and double-immunofluorescence technique, the number of BrdU immunoreacted nuclei in the subventricular zone(SVZ),the number of nestin positive cells in the subgranular zone (SGZ)as well as the nestin/BrdU double-labeled positive cells were counted.The effect of ginsenoside Rg1 on the immunoreactivity for BrdU,nestin and nestin/BrdU at 1d,3d,7d and 14d after focal cerebral ischemia were also observed to compare with that of controls,Re- sults The immunoreacted cells of BrdU,nestin and nestin/BrdU were seen in SVZ and SGZ in the hippocampus following focal cerebral ischemia.The number of BrdU,nestin-positive cells and the double-labeled positive cells all reached the peak on 7d and decreased on 14d after MCAO,and the expressions markedly increased after the rats were given ginsenoside Rg1,compared with the control(P